on the other hand, as governor chris christie said over the weekend, if mitt romney comes in and is able to hold his own or even get a few good jabs in, he could get a bit of a bounce. he's been struggling. this is an important debate. the first one's always important. it set acetone and tenor for the others. >> jennifer: i love the fact we have these ringside seats for history in the making. we have unearthed a radio clip from the very first -- as far as we know, the very first official presidential debate. it was from a primary match-up between thomas dewey and harold stacken in 1948. lea take a -- let's take a listen to dewey. >> i'm wholeheartedly, unswervingly against any esteemed laws outlawing people because of their religious political, social or economic ideas. i'm against it because it's a violation of the constitution of the united states and bill of rights and clearly so. >> jennifer: something about that language that is fantastic. how important were the debates prior to the television era? >> well, it is a great question. it was one where you played the lincoln/douglas deba